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Sunday, January 14, 2007

Verizon Wireless announced the LG VX9400 at CES on January 7, 2007. What is so special about the VX9400 you ask...it will be the first cell phone in the USA to allow you to watch LIVE TV. A partnership between Qualcomm's MobileFlo and Verizon Wireless has developed V CAST Mobile TV. V CAST Mobile TV will be launched with eight channels including NBC, CBS, Fox, MTV, Comedy Central, MSNBC and Nickelodeon. The LG VX9400 and V CAST Mobile TV will be available in late March 2007 (in select areas).

The VX9400 has a unique swing bar design with a 320 x 240 pixel color LCD screen. Just like the 8000 and 9000 series LG phones this phone will offer access to V CAST Music and Video, Get It Now® and Mobile Web 2.0SM plus Bluetooth® capabilities and a 1.3 megapixel camera and camcorder.

A Look at the VX9400

Here is an exclusive look at the LG VX9400 phone. This exclusive look is from CES 2007 and courtesy of a publicist for LG Electronics.

The Pros and Cons of the VX9400

Pros:1. V CAST Mobile TV - The ability to watch live TV2. A microSD Memory Port - Even the iPhone does not offer this. A microSD port allows you to expand the amount of memory the phone has to store music, pictures, and video.3. Flash User Interface - Abandons the boring old Verizon menu system and allows a flashier menu system.4. Bluetooth stereo headset support - Allows you to listen to your music as if you were using a standard 3.5mm headset.5. Speakerphone - Surprisingly enough not every cell phone has one. All phones should though.6. Voice commands: call, send message, go to, check, lookup, My Account7. Video Camcorder can take video at 320 x 240 and 176 x 144 resolutions.

Cons:1. I personally am disappointed in the 1.3 megapixel camera. The Samsung SCH-A990 has a 3.2 megapixel camera and the enV (VX9900) has a 2 megapixel camera.2. The Camera can only take pictures up to 1280 x 960 the enV can take pictures at 1600 x 12003. Camera only offers a 4x digital zoom - My VX8000 that is two years old offers a 4x digital zoom as well.4. No Macro Switch - Since the VX8000 they have stopped including a macro switch on phones.5. Only allows 500 contacts - Though I do not know that many people the enV boast 1000 contacts6. Battery Life is a little disappointing. At 3 hours and 35 minutes for usage do not expect to watch TV while travelling cross country

Unfortunately even though many of us (including me) are drooling over this new phone it does have a down side. One of the cons is the price. The price has yet to be announced for the actual phone and V CAST Mobile TV. Fortunately, LG phones are not overly priced and my guess is it will be $200 with a two year contract. The V CAST Mobile TV is another story and my guess is it will be between $20-30/month for the feature which will be added onto the current V CAST $15/month plan.